Campaign Walkthrough: Stages 1–18

The campaign runs eighteen hand-built stages before it hands you off to the endless procedural gauntlet. The first four are a controlled tutorial that introduces one enemy archetype at a time; from stage six onward the game starts stacking multi-wave crowds and expects you to manage space, spacing, and your Ki gauge. Boss stages break the rhythm every few levels. This guide walks each stage in order, tells you exactly what shows up and in what wave, and gives a concrete plan for clearing it. Keep the move list on M handy until the inputs are muscle memory, and remember that your combo multiplier only inflates your score, not your damage — so styling is optional on early stages and mandatory for the leaderboard.

Quick control refresher

Stage 1 — First Steps

A single Fighter (normal type, 90 HP, baseline speed and damage). This is the teaching stage and nothing here can punish you hard. Use it to internalize the four attack buttons: Q for the fastest jab, W as your combo filler, A for a low poke, and S for the heavy finisher. Try a simple chain like Q,W,Sto feel how buttons cancel into one another, then hold Shift to watch a block eat most of a hit. There is no wave pressure, so also test your movement — walk it into a corner with→, throw with Q+A, and try the sweep →A to see the hard knockdown that will save you on later crowds.

Stage 2 — Double Trouble

Two Fighters at once. This is your first taste of AI turn-taking: the coordination system usually sends one enemy in while the other hangs back, so you rarely get double-teamed if you stay disciplined. The trap is greed — commit to S on the near Fighter and the far one closes the gap during your slow recovery. Poke with Q andW, use the sweep →A to knock one down and buy time, and keep one opponent between you and the other so you never have targets on both sides. If they do sandwich you, dodge roll (double-tap ↓) straight through the nearer one to reset the angle.

Stage 3 — Speed Demons

Two waves. Wave 1 is two Scouts (fast type, only 55 HP but 1.5x speed, small hitbox). Wave 2 is one Fighter plus one Scout. Scouts die to almost anything — the problem is catching them. Do not chase; let their speed carry them into your range and check them with the fast Q jab or a well-timed →A sweep, which stuffs their rushes and knocks them flat. Because their damage is low (0.55), you can afford to trade if it means landing a launcher ↑W to remove one from the fight. In wave 2, prioritize the Scout so you are left with just the sturdier Fighter to finish cleanly.

Stage 4 — The Brute

Two waves, and your first heavy. Wave 1 pairs one Scout with one Fighter — clear the Scout first with fast pokes, then the Fighter. Wave 2 is a loneBrute (heavy type, 160 HP, slow 0.6 speed, big hitbox, hits for 1.25 and has high reaction). The Brute is a wall of health that punishes whiffs hard. Do not brawl it head on. Bait a heavy swing, dodge roll through it, and answer with a full chain into S. Its slow speed means you can kite with ←/→ and pepper it with Qpokes, but its high reaction means it blocks predictable strings — mix in the throwQ+A or guard break W+S to crack a turtling Brute.

Stage 5 — Iron Fist (Boss)

Your first boss. Iron Fist is a pressure brawler with 500 HP, slow movement, and damage scaled up 1.8x — a single clean hit hurts. Play patient: block low-commitment pressure with Shift, dodge roll his big committed swings, and punish the recovery with a short confirmed string rather than a greedy one. Bank Ki between exchanges (dealing and taking damage both fill your gauge) and spend it on →→S Energy Dash, whose invulnerable startup lets you close and punish safely. Save a full gauge for Dragon Fist ↓←→Wwhen he is low.

Full phase timings, tells, and punish windows are in the Iron Fist deep-dive.

Stage 6 — Relentless Assault

Three waves and the debut of the aggressive type. Wave 1 is two Scouts. Wave 2 is one Berserker plus one Fighter. Wave 3is two Berserkers. The Berserker (80 HP, 1.1 speed, 1.05 damage) does not respect turn-taking the way calmer types do — it wants to be in your face constantly. Against a single Berserker, block-punish works, but against the two in wave 3 you cannot afford to sit still. Use hard knockdowns to create breathing room: sweep →A one Berserker, then immediately pressure the other before the first recovers. Ki Burst Shift+E (50% gauge) is excellent in wave 3 because its AoE hits both attackers when they crowd you.

Stage 7 — The Gauntlet

A brutal endurance test of three heavy-flavored waves. Wave 1: one Brute plus one Scout. Wave 2: two Berserkers. Wave 3: one Brute plus one Berserker. The recurring theme is a slow tank paired with a fast harasser, which pulls your attention in two directions. Deal with the fast threat first every time — kill the Scout in wave 1, and in wave 3 chip the Berserker down while kiting the Brute — so you are never juggling two active pressures. Conserve Ki through the first two waves so you can open wave 3 with an Energy Dash →→S or Power Blast ↓→W to delete the Berserker before it ramps up.

Stage 8 — Swarm

Pure numbers. Wave 1: three Scouts. Wave 2: two Fighters plus one Scout. Wave 3: four Scouts. Individually these enemies are paper, but four fast small targets circling you is genuinely dangerous even with AI coordination, because their low damage adds up when you are surrounded. This is the stage where positioning matters most: keep backing toward a wall so nothing spawns behind you, and use area moves generously. Ki Burst Shift+E clears clusters, Super Beam ↓↘→A (75%) sweeps a line of them and stuns, and even a plain sweep →A knocks down everything in front of you. Do not tunnel on one Scout — hit whatever is closest and reset spacing constantly.

Stage 9 — Elite Guard

The hardest non-boss stage, three waves of armored-feeling enemies. Wave 1: one Brute plus one Berserker. Wave 2: two Brutes. Wave 3: one Berserker, one Brute, and one Scout. Two Brutes in wave 2 means 320 combined HP that soaks punishment and hits for 1.25 each — do not get greedy or you will eat a heavy while committed. Separate them: knock one down with →A, focus the other, and never stand between the pair. Their high reaction blocks repetitive strings, so lean on the guard break W+Sand throw Q+A to open turtles. In wave 3, kill the Scout immediately so you are back to the familiar tank-plus-aggressor pattern. Enter this stage with a full gauge and open each wave with a special.

Stage 10 — Shadow Lord (Boss)

Shadow Lord, 650 HP, built around fast teleport mix-ups. He blinks around the stage to attack from unexpected angles, so a passive turtle gets opened up from behind. Stay mobile, keep dodge rolls (double-tap ↓) ready to escape his re-appearances, and punish the brief window right after he materializes. Because he repositions constantly, projectiles like Ki Blast ↓→Q and Power Blast ↓→W help you control space and catch him mid-teleport.

Teleport reads and the phase-by-phase plan live in the Shadow Lord deep-dive.

Stage 11 — Storm Monk (Boss)

Storm Monk, 680 HP, a lightning-staff zoner who wants to keep you at range and control the screen with projectiles. Your depth movement is the key tool here: tap ↑or ↓ to step out of the plane and let his linear lightning pass by, then close the gap during his recovery. Do not sit in one lane trading fire — you will lose the ranged war. Energy Dash →→S is ideal for punching through his zoning with invulnerable startup.

Full projectile patterns and approach routes are in the Storm Monk deep-dive.

Stage 12 — Venom Fang (Boss)

Venom Fang, 700 HP, a low-attacking poison specialist who stacks damage-over-time on you. The danger is not any single hit but the lingering chip that ticks even after you back off — and note that blocking reduces the initial hit but chip damage still applies. Because many of his attacks come in low, be ready to block low pressure and avoid, rather than tank, the poison applications. Play for clean, decisive punishes so the fight ends before the DoT grinds you down, and keep your health buffer healthy going in.

DoT timings and how to minimize poison stacks are in the Venom Fang deep-dive.

Stage 13 — Titan (Boss)

Titan, 740 HP, a slow super-armor heavy. Super armor means he plows through your light hits without flinching, so trying to interrupt his swings with a jab gets you hit for your trouble. Respect his commitment: dodge roll through the telegraphed heavy attacks and answer with your biggest safe punish, S or Energy Dash →→S. His slow speed is your friend — kite, wait for the whiff, and dump damage in the recovery. Don't waste specials into his armor; land them during the punish window instead.

Armor windows and safe punishes are detailed in the Titan deep-dive.

Stage 14 — Phantom Blade (Boss)

Phantom Blade, 770 HP and the campaign's final named boss, a parry/counter specialist. He punishes predictable, repetitive offense by parrying it and countering hard, so the usual grind-a-string strategy backfires. Vary your rhythm, use delayed and staggered attacks, and mix in throws Q+A and guard breaks W+S to bypass his defensive game. Bait a counter attempt, whiff-punish it, and only commit to big damage when you have caught him mid-recovery.

Counter tells and how to stay unpredictable are in the Phantom Blade deep-dive.

Stages 15–18 — The Final Gauntlet

Beating Phantom Blade does not end the campaign — it opens a four-boss run with no filler stages between them, so arrive with a full Ki gauge and don't waste it. Each fight is a deliberate counter to the last, so you cannot lean on one habit:

• Stage 15 — Frost Sovereign: a glacial zoner who blocks constantly. Stop mashing — advance behind blocked Frost Shards, dodge-roll Frost Nova up close, and save your meter for phase 3 when her guard drops.
• Stage 16 — Inferno Warlord: the exact opposite — a relentless rusher. Hold your ground, dodge-roll into his Inferno Charge for a punish, and never turtle, because Eruption exists to punish blocking.
• Stage 17 — Void Harbinger: the last guardian. He erases your spacing with Void Pull, then guard-breaks with Void Collapse — so react to the pull with a dodge-roll and never block after being dragged in.
• Stage 18 — Dragon King: the finale. Bottomless Ki, 2.0× damage. Play patient, punish Eternal Flame with a dodge-roll, and keep 50% meter banked for Ki Burst at all times. Clearing him triggers the secret ending and unlocks Hero Mode.

Stage 19+ — Endless Mode and Scoring

Clearing the Dragon King unlocks the procedural infinite stages. From stage 19 on, enemy compositions are generated on the fly and scale in difficulty, and the Dragon King(800 HP) appears as a boss every five levels. There is no ending here — the goal shifts from survival to score. Because compositions are randomized, the fundamentals carry you: kill fast threats first, use hard knockdowns to manage crowds, and never commit to slow moves when multiple enemies are active. The recurring Dragon King is a serious damage check, so try to reach each fifth-level boss with a full Ki gauge and health to spare.

For the leaderboard, remember how the score math works. Your combo multiplierramps from 1.0x up to 3.0x and multiplies the points you earn (it does not increase damage), so long uninterrupted combos are worth chasing purely for score. The stage clear bonus is the sum of a base value plus bonuses for remaining HP, your highest combo, and clear time — meaning aggressive, clean, no-damage runs are rewarded far more than cautious ones. Only the top five scores are saved in your browser's localStorage, so the real challenge in endless mode is pushing multiplier and speed at once. Fill Ki aggressively (dealing damage ×0.5, taking ×0.3, blocking ×0.2, passive +2/s) and cash it into big specials like Dragon Fist ↓←→W to extend combos and shorten clears simultaneously.

General tips that scale across every stage

• Kill order: always remove fast, fragile Scouts before slow Brutes.
• Space with knockdowns: sweep →A buys the time crowds deny you.
• Charge Ki safely: hold E only when no one can reach you — you take 1.5x damage while charging.
• Dodge, don't block, big commitments: the roll's invincibility beats what a block only softens.
• Bank specials for openings: spend Ki on punish windows, not into armor or block.

Ready to go deeper? Study the input fundamentals in the gameplay guide, drill the strings and juggles on the combos page, and read every boss's full breakdown on the bosses hub.